On the one hand, Sunday night’s Stadium Series outdoor game between the Bruins and Lightning was pure hockey theatre with entertainment value galore. For a league with declining TV ratings in its outdoor games, it was exactly what the doctor ordered, with rave reviews by those who were on hand to watch it.
Can I tell you how much I enjoy that they are letting the goalies fight again? The anti-goalie fight tyranny was zero fun pic.twitter.com/TuOOPGlm7q
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) February 2, 2026
The goalie fight alone made it stand out as a fan viewing experience, and it seemed like the B’s and Bolts players – and coaches – all got the memo that this was supposed to be a spectacle that fans would want to watch.
“It was a hell of a game for the fans…entertaining,” said Pastrnak. “It’s good for hockey. But for us as players we left points here and didn’t get it done.”
They got all that in a 6-5 shootout win for Tampa Bay over the Bruins at Raymond James Stadium as the B’s continue to pile up points, headed full steam ahead into the Olympic break in a couple of days. Morgan Geekie scored a couple of goals, young, support players like Alex Steeves and Matt Poitras got on the board, and Jeremy Swayman was stellar in the third period and overtime as the intensity dial got cranked up a couple of notches.
But big games against quality opponents can also reveal the nagging flaws within a hockey team, and that was the case in Tampa on Sunday night as Boston’s penchant for penalties and sometimes flimsy defense translated into an eventual loss for the Black and Gold. And they have now allowed power play goals in six of the last seven games with a penalty kill unit that's been stressed to the max pretty much all season. It’s too bad because there were so many things to smile about with the B’s involvement in the outdoor game, including all of the players getting dressed up as the founding fathers, complete with old school wigs and George Washington outfits.
The full white whig look for Nikita Zadorov is strong pic.twitter.com/XaukE2UTFJ
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) February 1, 2026
But the bottom line was that the Bruins blew a 5-1 lead while giving up three power-play goals in the second half of the second period. Time and time again this season, they have shot themselves in the foot with penalties, and it was self-inflicted issues once again this time around when they had a game well in hand.
Perhaps even more concerning was that, this time around, they were actively looking to blame the referees for being shorthanded in addition to their own careless play at times.
“It hurts…it hurts a lot. The way we lost that game was brutal, and we spent half the game in the penalty box,” said Charlie McAvoy.
The Bruins alternate captain was then asked when he thought the game turned in favor of the Lightning.
“When they had a 5-on-3 [power play] for like eight minutes,” said McAvoy, flatly. “It just killed our momentum. It killed the game, really. It was a good game before that and then we were in the box for the whole period. The goalie fight is fun and it was really cool for Sway, and for us, but after that we just kept taking penalties.
“We had complete control of the game and you give a team like that with that kind of power play for however long that was, you are just asking for trouble.”
The biggest complaint was about an apparent game-winning goal for David Pastrnak in overtime on a 2-on-1 odd man rush that was ultimately blown dead with Pastrnak actually getting called for slashing on a delayed penalty call. One could hear the back referee furiously blowing his whistle as the Bruins carried the puck into the offensive zone and eventually fanned out into the odd-man rush with Pastrnak filling up the net.
The slashing call looked legit and perhaps the ref was to blame for being a little slow on the draw with his whistle, but it was absolutely being blown dead prior to the puck getting into the back of the Tampa net.
It all ultimately left the B’s shorthanded to end overtime, led to Jake Guentzel scoring the game-winner in the shootout and the Bruins being up in arms about the whole sequence after the game is over.
“I have no clue what happened, honestly. It is a freaking turnover and we have a 2-on-1, referee has the arm up and Sway is going to the bench, we finish off the play and score a goal, and then all of a sudden, I am going to the penalty box. It’s a joke,” said an obviously frustrated Pastrnak. “I don’t understand. I have never seen something like that. To me, it’s a joke. I don’t care if it’s a bad answer. That’s how I feel. It’s weird to score a goal and end up in the penalty box. But we have them two points and that’s what matters. It’s tough on us.
“The game was over. It was in our hands. We made mistakes and let them back in our game with our mistakes. We left points again on the table.”
David Pastrnak thought he won the game for Boston ... but ended up in the penalty box for slashing. pic.twitter.com/D4qXdk8fDy
— ESPN (@espn) February 2, 2026
The vexation is perhaps understandable, but it’s not really a good look for the NHL’s most penalized team to be blaming the refs for a well-earned reputation for shaky discipline that’s been there all season. The unfortunate part is seeing how this bad habit is going to crop up again in the Stanley Cup playoffs as team weaknesses so often do against good teams in a postseason pressure cooker.
“Listen, we all have good days and we all have bad days,” said Marco Sturm. “I have to look at some of the calls. I know some of them were not in our favor, I can tell you that. We have to do a better job and I think [the referees] have to do a better job too. I don’t blame them.
“It is always comes back to us. If you give a guy like Kucherov 10 minutes on the power play then you’ve done something wrong and that is on us.”
Sturm is 100 percent right and Sunday’s outdoor loss should be another reminder that recent B’s history this season is something they will be doomed to repeat if they can’t learn their lessons ahead of a likely playoff berth.
ONE TIMERS
*Interesting to hear comments from Elliotte Friedman about some level of disconnect between Matt Poitras and the Boston Bruins as he got called up this week with the upper body injury to Elias Lindholm. Poitras scored a goal in Sunday night’s outdoor game against Tampa Bay and has played a couple of solid games since being back up in the NHL and was mentioned pretty prominently in trade rumors involving Rasmus Andersson last month.
Elliotte Friedman: I've wondered about Matthew Poitras; you can tell that both sides aren't 100% happy with each other here, I think the Bruins have expected more, I think Poitras would expect more - FAN Hockey Show (1/29)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) January 31, 2026
“That’s probably the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” said Poitras of the Stadium series loss. “We would have rather come away with a win, but I felt like I played a pretty good game out there. I felt good out there.”
It all makes one wonder if this Poitras call-up acts as something of a trade showcase in addition to being an injury callup with Fraser Minten steadily elevating his profile as a young center prospect capable of eventually developing into a top-6 guy just as Poitras has been that kind of guy as well.